Silicone is so soft and flexible that it is easily deformed by the pressure of a finger. Researchers at Fraunhofer have recently created sensors made from this flexible material, making it easier to steplessly control devices. ...

The Internet of Things (IoT) describes devices and applications that gather and distribute data for everyday life. Sensor devices and processes that will underpin the IoT need to be small, versatile and energy efficient. ...

(Phys.org)—A pair of researchers, both with the University of Groningen in The Netherlands, has found that a certain songbird flies for 40 to 60 hours straight when it crosses the Sahara Desert as part of its diurnal migration ...

Fujitsu Laboratories today announced that it has developed a portable breath sensor that can extract and quickly measure the concentration of only specified gas components, such as ammonia, that are included at low concentrations ...

A simple but effective sensor for monitoring the respiration rate of individuals has been created. Taking advantage of the hygroscopic character of ordinary paper, scientists at Harvard University have developed an electrical ...

Insights from pure mathematics are lending new insights to material physics, which could aid in development of new devices and sensors. Now an international team of physicists has discovered that applying a magnetic field ...

Plants and trees soak up water in the soil by letting it vaporize through pores in the leaves. Scientists at TU/e have now taken this principle to develop a sweat sensor through which the sweat itself flows at a steady rate ...

Many machines such as turbines, oil-drills, health monitors and nuclear reactors require internal sensors to monitor physical states such as temperature. To meet this challenge, researchers at A*STAR are developing compact ...

Trace contaminants in water are often measured by taking samples from the environment to a lab for analysis, which can lead to inaccurate results due to delayed and irregular sample collection or long-transportation and handling ...

Sensor

A sensor is a device that measures a physical quantity and converts it into a signal which can be read by an observer or by an instrument. For example, a mercury thermometer converts the measured temperature into expansion and contraction of a liquid which can be read on a calibrated glass tube. A thermocouple converts temperature to an output voltage which can be read by a voltmeter. For accuracy, all sensors need to be calibrated against known standards.